One More Short Ride - Ascaping Covid and Winter in Arizona - CycleBlaze

December 31, 2020

One More Short Ride

Nice agave in the foreground with cholla in the background.
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Another handy porta pot at this new development! Even a rock seat to use for eating my lunch. Even a baby saguaro to keep me company!
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All the bird activity around our feeders attracted this Gila Woodpecker.
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The sunset tonight really bathed the mountains with pink.
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These White-Crowned sparrows enjoyed foraging for seeds on the ground beneath the feeders.
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I know that there are other cyclists here in Tucson that are posting on CycleBlaze and they are rountinely doing 40+ mile days. But we feel comfortable with our shorter rides. Plus with these colder overnight temperatures and short days of sunshine, it takes a long time to warm up in the mornings which doesn't leave you much time in the afternoons for long rides. 

It had been another frosty night but it least it was sunny out. So we had a leisurely morning eating breakfast and watching some dance videos. 

By noon it was over 53 degrees so we headed out. The clouds had returned with a light wind.

We turned north from camp on Innovation Rd. which took us by many office buildings and a hospital. When we reached Rancho Vistoso Rd we kept going uphill back into Sun City. 

While the trails have been nice, we also like looking at the variety of homes and landscaping. While we enjoy RV'ing right now we might someday want a more permanent winter home here. Who knows? 

I kept eyeing the orange trees laden with fruit in people's yards. So when one appeared with branches hanging over a fence next to us, I told Don to stop so I could pull one off the tree. Well, the fruit was hard as a rock and I couldn't get it off the branch! Guess they're not as ripe as I had hoped. 

They have lots of farmer's markets here in this area and I could probably find local produce at one, but in this Covid era, we don't feel safe attending a crowded gathering such as that. Another time.

We continued meandering around some of the quiet side streets. The mini-garages for the golf carts made us laugh! 

Eventually we turned south on the main roads where we returned back to camp. At least the sun came out on the downhill! 

Back at the trailer we had time to do a little dancing and handwashed some clothes before dinner. Today we had western bluebirds, a broad-tailed hummer (we think, they move so quickly it's sometimes hard to ID them) and a bright red male northern cardinal. We even spotted a desert jackrabbit as it bounded through camp. Of course, it moved too quickly to get a picture!

Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 337 miles (542 km)

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